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Asclepias incarnata | Rose Red Swamp Milkweed | Silkweed | 100_Seeds

$3.95

This is Asclepias incarnata, also known as Swamp Milkweed, Rose Milkweed, Red Milkweed, Swamp Silkweed, and White Indian Hemp. Growing to a height of about 6 feet maximum, these perennial plants are a favorite or the bees, birds and butterflies. This plant has pink and purple blooms that is active from mid Summer to early Fall in most places. Asclepias incarnata has a nice fragrance that some have said smells like cinnamon or vanilla. This versatile plant can also be used as a cut flower for its long lasting blossoms or the interesting seed pods that develop. The Monarch butterfly not only feeds on this plant but she also lays her eggs on this plant and the new caterpillars feed on the leaves. This fragrant perennial is used to living in heavy wet soils. This is not just a favorite with the Monarchs. Asclepias incarnata in not only a larval host for the Monarch butterfly but it is also larval host for the Queen butterfly. This plant produces nectar which attracts many different kinds of butterflies including the Common Buckeye, Giant Swallowtail, Great Spangled Fritillary, Pearl Crescent, Pipevine Swallowtail, Variegated Fritillary, Banded Hairstreak, Delaware Skipper, Bronze Copper, Gray Hairstreak , Little Glassywing, Pecks Skipper, Two-tailed Swallowtail, Broad-winged Skipper, Fiery Skipper, European Skipper, Rare Skipper, Ocola Skipper, Yehl Skipper, Hessels Hairstreak, Sachem, Dun Skipper, and the White-M Hairstreak buterflies. Asclepias in general are documented nectar sources for the Monarch, Orange-edged Roadside-Skipper, Dina Yellow, Carus Skipper, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, and Falcate Metalmark butterflies. It is also the nectar source for the Clarks sphinx, and Milkweed Tussock moths. USDA Hardiness Zones 3 to 8